A meta-analysis of working memory in individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Habib, A., Harris, L., Pollick, F. and Melville, C. (2019) A meta-analysis of working memory in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. PLoS ONE, 14(4), e0216198. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216198) (PMID:31039192) (PMCID:PMC6490940)

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Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are lifelong neurodevelopmental disorders. It is not clear whether working memory (WM) deficits are commonly experienced by individuals with ASD. Aim: To determine whether individuals with ASD experience significant impairments in WM and whether there are specific domains of working memory that are impaired. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis using four electronic databases EMBASE (OVID), MEDLINE (OVID), PsychINFO (EBSCOHOST), and Web of Science, to examine the literature to investigate whether people with ASD experience impairments related to WM. Meta-analyses were conducted separately for phonological and visuospatial domains of WM. Subgroup analyses investigated age and intelligence quotient as potential moderators. Results: A total of 29 papers containing 34 studies measuring phonological and visuospatial domains of WM met the inclusion criteria. WM scores were significantly lower for individuals with ASD compared to typically developed (TD) controls, in both the visuospatial domain when investigating accuracy (d: -0.73, 95% CI -1.04 to -0.42, p < 0.05) and error rates (d: 0.56, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.88, p<0.05), and the phonological domain when investigating accuracy (d:-0.67, 95% CI -1.10 to -0.24, p>0.05) and error rate (d: 1.45, 95% CI -0.07 to 2.96, p = 0.06). Age and IQ did not explain the differences in WM in ASD. Conclusions: The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that across the lifespan, individuals with ASD demonstrate large impairments in WM across both phonological and visuospatial WM domains when compared to healthy individuals.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Pollick, Professor Frank and Harris, Dr Leanne and Melville, Professor Craig and Habib, Abdullah
Creator Roles:
Habib, A.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Harris, L.Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review and editing
Pollick, F.Writing – review and editing
Melville, C.Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Habib, A., Harris, L., Pollick, F., and Melville, C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
Journal Name:PLoS ONE
Publisher:Public Library of Science
ISSN:1932-6203
ISSN (Online):1932-6203
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 Habib et al.
First Published:First published in PLoS ONE 14(4): e0216198
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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